Much before my time, Raybert Productions was founded to reach a new (younger) audience for Hollywood films. Founded by Rob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, their first hit was the show The Monkeys. Using money from that, they made their first film, Head, and then brought in another partner, Steve Blauner. This new company was retitled BBS Productions, and it did indeed find the goal it initially sought: acclaimed films that reached out towards the counterculture environment.

As mentioned, Head was the first film, in 1968, and it was made on familiar ground, starring the Monkeys. Directed by Rafelson (and written by Rafelson and a young Jack Nicholson; did you know, after failed attempts to get his acting career to take off in the 50’s and early 60’s, he started writing?), it is less a film and more of a 90 minute variety show. It’s been called aimless and plotless, but there is the thin frame of a plot involving the boys trying to escape “the box.” Not so subtle reminder that they were trying to break out of their carefully crafted teenage friendly image. There are a handful of skits focusing on each individual member of the Monkeys, as well as the group as a whole. Interspersed throughout are a half dozen or so songs. The film was a box office bomb when it was released. By this time, the show had already been cancelled and there were rifts in the band, as well as with Rafelson and Schneider. The fact that it wasn’t kid-friendly (there are political stances and some adult topics) and the songs less “pop-py” hurt too, though I think the songs are actually pretty good. I’m not calling it a great film by any stretch, but I was entertained. ★★½

Easy Rider was the group’s first big hit, and it is a joy to watch. It stars Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper (who also directs) as a couple of motorcycle riding hippies traveling through the American south. After smuggling cocaine across the border from Mexico and receiving a stack of cash, they begin the cross country trip from LA to New Orleans, wanting to get there in time for Mardi Gras. The film is obviously less about the destination and more about the trek. They encounter like-minded people (hitch-hikers and a free love commune) as well as antagonist southerners who don’t care for their long hair and motorcycles. Along the way, they spend a night in jail for disrupting a parade in a small town, where they meet another man, who’s a hard drinker but unfamiliar with the hippie lifestyle of our two protagonists. He joins their voyage, smoking weed for the first time, and the trio share experiences and relate tales about the direction of the country. They face hardships along the way but stay cool (can you dig it?) and make it to New Orleans in time. This is a fantastic movie, whose success and acclaim catapulted the counterculture movement in Hollywood. The soundtrack is incredible, featuring indelible tunes from the era’s greats. Absolutely loved this picture. ★★★★½

Five Easy Pieces is another great film, with two tremendous performances. Jack Nicholson plays Bobby, an obviously intelligent man who shirks responsibilities at every turn. Instead of using his smarts and going for a well paying career, he’s been working at an oil rig in southern California, and not taking it very seriously either. His friends and girlfriend, Ray (Karen Black) are of the blue collar working class variety. Ray is a nice, caring woman, but she’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, and Bobby constantly berates her, even in public, but always makes up later. When Bobby gets news that his father, from whom he’s been alienated for a few years, has had a couple strokes, Bobby decides to go visit. Ray begs to go along too, but Bobby leaves her at a nearby motel while he continues on to the family home. All of his brothers and sisters are there, and we learn the history of the family. Bobby comes from a highly intelligent musical family, prodigies all, and Bobby’s piano playing was maybe the best of them, before getting in some sort of argument with their father years before and leaving. When Ray makes it to the house, Bobby’s nature comes to the fore, and we learn about a man who is very sharp, extremely talented, but never asked to be either. It’s a fantastic character study of a man grappling with a load of perceived responsibilities, but preferring to live an aimless, careless lifestyle. Nicholson and Black both received Oscar noms. ★★★★½

Drive, He Said was Jack Nicholson’s directorial debut (he’s only directed 2 other films in his long career). It is a raw film, and you can tell it is from a very young director, as it lacks cohesion. It doesn’t help that the actors just aren’t very good. Its main character is a college basketball player named Hector Bloom, who is very talented and being recruited for the pros, but he lacks drive and seems to be one of those who has skated through life on talent alone. He’s banging a professor’s wife, and definitely has a codependent thing going on there. While Bloom is getting ready for the basketball draft, his roommate Gabriel is trying to find a way to dodge a draft of his own (the Vietnam one). Gabriel is a true nut, and just gets crazier as the film goes along. This movie meanders along without great direction, and there really isn’t a coherent plot or goal. That worked really well in Easy Rider because the actors were so good and the environment so rich and textured; here it’s just a big mess. There are, I think, just two good actors in this picture: Bruce Dern (the coach) and Karen Black (the wife). I never understood what made Hector tick, he’s just sort of there, and it’s not a good thing to feel so disconnected from your main character. ★½

Critics be damned, I loved A Safe Place. It is an enigmatic film, occasionally frustratingly so, and it was panned by critics when it came out, but I think it was just ahead of its time. It is about a woman named Noah who is the ultimate flower child of the 60s/70s. She seems to float through life without a care in the world, but admits to the viewer, late in the film, that she does fight internal fears and a very real sense of loss. The film takes place in at least 2 time lines, maybe 3 (I’m not exactly sure), but the same actress (Tuesday Weld) plays Noah at all ages. When she was a girl, Noah met a street magician (played by the great Orson Welles), who gave her a sense of wonder to view the world. She carried that for the rest of her life, which sometimes baffled her lovers as an adult. She’s seeing two men, Mitch (Jack Nicholson) and Fred (Philip Proctor), who couldn’t more different from each other. The movie jumps continuously throughout the film, with most scenes being no longer than a few seconds to a couple minutes (tops), and sometimes narration will carry over across the timelines. It has a very Terrence Malick experimental film kind of feel, which understandably is not for everyone (for instance, I loved Tree of Life, but hated many of his other experimental pieces). This one connected with me though, and I really dug it. Whether there is a deeper meaning or not, is up to the viewer’s interpretation. ★★★★

The Last Picture Show is perfection. It follows the residents of a small town in Texas in 1952, the kind of town where everyone knows everyone else’s business and secrets. Specifically, the focus is on two best friends, seniors in high school, Sonny and Duane. Duane is dating Jacy, the prettiest girl in town, and Sonny, with his average-looking girlfriend, is a bit jealous. Jacy however is only dating Duane because he’s the star quarterback of the football team, but she’s willing to marry anyone who will give her an easy life, so she eyes the goofy looking wealthy boy Bobby Sheen as a way out of town. Sonny breaks up with his girl and starts sleeping with the coach’s wife, Ruth, who’s been depressed for years because her husband is a closeted homosexual. All these events swirl around the 3 locations in town where news spreads: the cafe, the movie theater, and the pool hall. All three establishments are owned by Sam “the lion,” a popular man in town for his kindness and likability. The little town relies on him for more than his buildings though, and when Sam dies unexpectedly, the town, already on its last legs, doesn’t seem long for this world. Director Peter Bogdanovich does an amazing job of painting the ins and outs of a little town (and a few of its inhabitants) at a crossroads. It helps that the cast is a literal who’s who of talent. Veterans included Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, and Clu Gulager, but the youngsters in town were all newcomers at the time: Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms, Ellen Burstyn, Randy Quaid, and Cybill Shepherd (in her first role). ★★★★★

After so many great movies, they had to let me down. The King of Marvin Gardens is further proof that fine actors can’t save a subpar story. The movie is about a late-night radio DJ, David, who gets a call from his estranged brother, Jason, to come out to Atlantic City and help him in a new business. We learn quickly that Jason’s life has been full of half-assed entrepreneurial ideas, and David’s tired of it, but he’s humoring him one more time, because that’s what family’s for. When David gets to Atlantic City, of course Jason is in jail, but David is given some cockamamy story how it isn’t Jason’s fault. Upon release, Jason is accompanied by two woman, his girlfriend Sally and another, younger girl, who Jason introduces as his secretary. Jason’s latest scheme involves opening a casino in Hawaii. He says he already has the backers and is ready to break ground, but David finds that nothing is set in stone, and it is just a pipe dream. Sally is either neurotic or bipolar, but’s she’s off, and gets worse as the movie goes. Three of the four lead actors are great (Jack Nicholson as David, Bruce Dern as Jason, and, especially, Ellen Burstyn as Sally; unfortunately Julia Anne Robinson as Jessica just seems to be along for the ride), but the movie just never gets anywhere. Nicholson, Dern, and Burstyn are giving it their all, and Burstyn in particular is incredible as a woman with a deteriorating mind, but the acting skills are the only reasons to watch. ★

The production company BBS did one more film, the acclaimed documentary Hearts and Minds, which is also definitely worth checking out.

Yasujirō Ozu was a famous, heralded Japanese director whose career spanned 5 decades, beginning in the silent film era of the late 20’s until his passing in the early 1960’s. Though some of his more famous pictures were “talkies,” I’m starting at the beginning with his work, with 6 of his earlier silent films of the 30’s (many of his earlier films from the 20’s have been unfortunately lost).

Walk Cheerfully follows a thief and two-bit hoodlum named Kenji, known on the streets as “Ken the Knife.” He runs a little gang who work together pulling off petty crimes. Kenji’s life takes a turn though when he spots a woman coming out of a jewelry store. When he sees Yasue, it is love at first sight. Fate brings them together again a couple days later, and while his cohorts think Kenji is just planning another robbery, he really is head over heals for the girl. Kenji tries to conceal his life from Yasue, but when she learns of the truth, she breaks up with him. Wanting to win her back, Kenji tries to go the straight and narrow, getting a real job and casting off his former gang, but they aren’t ready to let him go so easily. It is a very fine gangster-like film, heavy on the drama and light on the crime, with touching moments between not only Kenji and Yasue, but also between Kenji and Senko, his one good friend from his criminal life. Excited to see more! ★★½

That Night’s Wife isn’t just a good silent film, it’s a good film, period. I guess you’d call it a “crime drama,” though outside of the first 15 minutes, it’s light on the former and heavy on the latter. It starts with a man named Shuji pulling off a brazen nighttime robbery. With cops hot in pursuit, he hides in a phone booth to make a call, and thus we find out the reason for his desperation. His wife is home tending their very ill little girl, and Shuji has called the doctor to ask how the girl was doing today. Shuji is afraid to return home with the cops on this tail, and tells the doctor that he might stay away tonight. In all seriousness, the doctor responds that Shuji better be there tonight. These ominous words get Shuji to relent, and he takes a car to his apartment. Unfortunately for him, the car’s driver is a detective who’s been on the lookout for the robbery suspect. Detective Kagawa drops Shuji off, and then quietly follows him upstairs and inside. Shuji begs to be allowed to wait out the night to see his daughter through, and the detective only backs off when Shuji’s wife pulls a gun on him. The rest of the night goes from a tense standoff to a touching and heartfelt morning. This movie was great from the get-go. The opening scenes and robbery are as action packed as you get, full of suspense and thick tension, which make the tender moments that follow all the more enjoyable. ★★★½

Tokyo Chorus goes for a different genre, and is a comedy. It follows one young man through his ups and (mostly) downs. It begins when he’s in school, and his antics in the yard, much to the consternation of his teacher. A few years later, he’s working for an insurance company and looking forward to his yearly bonus, on which he already has plans to buy presents for his wife and two children. The day the bonuses come out though, a coworker is fired, and our hero wants to stand up to the boss over what is perceived as an unjust dismissal. This only leads to our main guy being fired too. Unable to find work and down on his luck, his family isn’t looking too good. At about this time, I honestly had the thought that this was a pretty decent film, but what did the first 20 minutes of schooling have to do with it? Ozu heard me from 90 years ago, and our guy runs into his old teacher, who now owns a business. If he can work for him in an admittedly poor job for just a little bit, the teacher promises to reach out to old friends in the Ministry of Education to find him a better job. The movie is funny in an old-timey way, which I know isn’t for everyone, but it also has many touching moments between our lead and his family, especially his wife and son, for whom he’d promised a bike when they had money. A pleasant enough picture for fans of silent film. ★★★

I Was Born, But… is another comedy, but like the previous film, it has a lot of heart too. It follows a family who has just moved, and the two young boys are having a hard time adapting to new kids in the area. They are picked on relentlessly, to the point that they don’t even want to go to school. The parents are good people, but unaware of the problem until the school calls to check in after awhile. Through all of this, the boys rely on the strength of their father, who is a good-natured and jolly guy, always able to raise their spirits. He’s their hero, but when they are faced with the truth that their father is only the center of their house, but is himself an employee of someone else (the father of one of their friends no less), they realize their father isn’t as powerful outside the house as he is inside it. There’s a very poignant moment when the kids and adults are all in one family’s house and watching home movies of the adults at work, and they see their dad goofing off in his usual way. The other adults and children all have a laugh at his expense, and it shakes the two brothers to their core. Though the adults know it was all in good fun, the children do not see it as such. These tender moments are the best parts of the picture. Realizing your dad, who may be the strongest figure you know, isn’t the center of the universe can be a blow to any young boy. ★★★½

Dragnet Girl is the first of this batch of movies that I would recommend to anyone, even if you don’t generally like silent pictures. It is a great film about people wanting to be better than they are. Joji is a local hoodlum (see a running pattern in these movies?) whose girlfriend, Tokiko, works as a typist at a big firm. Joji is always looking for the next con game, and when Tokiko’s boss starts flirting with her, Joji thinks that can be their next score. Tokiko shoots the idea down, not wanting to lose her job. What does come along though is unexpected: a young high-schooler and boxing fanatic, who looks up to Joji as a community hero from his own boxing days, approaches Joji about joining his gang. What grabs Joji’s attention is this new guy’s sister, Kazuko. Suddenly Joji realizes he’d like a simpler life, with a good girl like Kazuko who isn’t always getting into trouble. Tokiko gets it in her head that she’ll confront Kazuko and warn her to stay away from her man, but she too starts to see the attraction of a quiet life. She begs Joji to give up their gangster life and go straight, but Joji decides they need to pull one more job to get some money to Kazuko’s brother, to keep them both out of trouble, and the target for their crime circles back to Tokiko’s boss. There’s a lot going on there, but it all plays out so beautifully in the film. It helps too that the version I watched had an amazing piano score, which makes all the difference on these silent films. The ending is a bit implausible, but an outstanding movie nonetheless. ★★★★★

Saw some good films in this run, but unfortunately it ended on a dud. Passing Fancy is a comedy without laughs, and doesn’t reach the emotional highs of some of the previous pictures either. The “passing fancy” described is when a man, Kihachi, sees a homeless, pretty young woman, and is smitten. He gets her a job and place to stay at the local restaurant (run by a friend), and puts the moves on her. Unfortunately she has no returning feelings. Much of the film is devoted to this and to Kihachi’s friend Jiro, but all of those plot elements really never go anywhere. The crux of the film is Kihachi’s relationship with his son Tomio. Kihachi is a laborer who did not finish school, in fact cannot even read, but he has high hopes for Tomio and pushes him. Tomio is doing well in school, but is embarrassed over his poor father. I wish more time had been spent with this aspect instead of all the other silly stuff, but this narrative feels rushed and isn’t allowed to develop. It’s a letdown after the last film, but I look forward to more Ozu pictures in the future. ★

Almost Home is the best indie film that no one is talking about. Ellie is a 13 year old girl getting bullied outside of school when a homeless teenager, Tracy, intervenes and puts a stop to it. Friendless, Ellie latches on to Tracy and invites her to her house. Tracy combs the place and steals some cash and food, and in Ellie’s stepbrother’s room, sees pictures of a naked Ellie on his computer. Ellie admits the stepbrother made her do it, and Tracy allows Ellie to run away from home and buddy up with her on the streets. For awhile, things are fine, even good. Tracy teaches Ellie the ropes and how to be as safe as possible, and they hang out with other homeless teens. But life on the streets of LA can’t be good forever. More dangerous people enter their circle, and Tracy’s heroin addiction threatens Ellie’s safety as well. Yes, the film is cheesy and at times predictable, but there’s some really fine acting from the young leads, Hannah Marks and Rachel Zimmerman (though not always from the other supporting cast). It’s a wonderful, real film about the dangers faced by homeless teenagers, as well as a story about standing up for and being true to yourself. ★★★★

Critical Thinking is based-on-the-true-story of a high school teacher, Mario Martinez, teaching chess in the multi-cultural Miami Jackson public schools. The kids have a diverse background from white to black to latino, including some for whom English is not their first language. The chess program is actually very good thanks to Martinez’s drive to help these kids, who live in a rough neighborhood. As the school year goes along, and the chess team keeps winning and advancing to regionals, state, and finally nationals, they have to raise money along the way, as the school system is unable to provide funds for travel, food, etc. We also see some of the rough home environments that a few of the kids are dealing with outside of school. It’s about as exciting as a chess film can be (the great Searching for Bobby Fisher notwithstanding), but way too formulaic, with downright corny dialogue. If not for the constant F bombs, it would seem right out of Disney studios in the vein of Glory Road or McFarland USA. The picture stars and is  directed by John Leguizamo and, despite his long career, is his directorial debut. I’d say he still needs to polish those skills. ★★

House of Hummingbird is a Korean film about a young girl, 8th grader Eun-hee, as she finds her way in a sometimes harsh world. She goes to a good private school, but doesn’t have many friends amongst the rich kids, who look down on her and her working class parents. At home, she is constantly beat by her older brother, and the home simmers with angst over the not-so-hidden secret of her dad’s infidelity. Eun-hee has a boyfriend, who doesn’t stand up for her when his mom puts her down in public, and when she starts feeling attraction to a girl, she is rebuffed there too. Eun-hee isn’t a good student but does dream of going to school to study art, but it doesn’t look like she’s going to get the chance, as the family only has enough money to send one of their 3 children to college, and are going with the boy (an even worse student than Eun-hee). Through it all, she’s having to face medical problems, when she finds a lump in her neck and has to have surgery to get it removed. Eun-hee sees a glimmer of hope when she gets a new teacher, a woman who Eun-hee maybe has a school girl crush on too. This is the first film from director Kim Bora, and there are some really good moments, but it does suffer from one major flaw: the director thinks a slow pace equates to a profound film, but unfortunately this movie has only one of those qualities. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad picture, just slow, and there’s not much of a payoff in the end. Fans of Asian art films may like it, but you should know what it is (and what it isn’t) before going in. ★★

Over the Moon is a beautiful film, gorgeously animated, and a total bore. Director Glen Keane is a former animator with Disney, and it shows, as the film looks great, but that’s all it has going for it. Fei Fei is raised on stories of the moon goddess from her mother, who dies when Fei Fei is still a little girl. A few years later, when her dad has found a new love and is looking to get married, Fei Fei feels he isn’t respecting the memories of her mom, and that he has forgotten her. Fei Fei devises a plan to build a rocket ship and travel to the moon, to prove that the stories her mom used to tell of the goddess are real, in hopes of reminding her dad of what they shared. She is able to get there, along with a stowaway (her soon-to-be stepbrother), and finds the goddess is indeed real, though maybe not what she was expecting. And… that’s as far as I got. I wanted to like the film, because it is a beauty to watch, but the plot is a rehashed story we’ve all seen a million times, and the songs are no where near the catchy, hummable quality that you can expect from director Keane’s former bosses. A single star for the eye candy. ★

I’m not much into horror films. If you’ve followed my blog for awhile, you know I rarely write about a scary movie. Ones I do enjoy have more that just frights, but some kind of human story in the middle. One such revelation is His House, from new director Remi Weekes. This one is a good one, about 2 Sudanese refugees granted temporary asylum in the UK. After surviving the perilous boat trip to flee their country, a voyage that saw them lose their daughter, Bol and Rial now have a second chance. Until their formal plea can be heard, the government gives them a ramshackle apartment in London. Immediately upon moving in, that first night in fact, Bol starts hearing sinister sounds in the wall, and both begin to see visions of terribly maimed beings, as well as occasional visits from their dead daughter. These visions make Rial think of a story she heard as a little girl, which she relates to her husband. She thinks they are being haunted by an evil spirit called an abeth, which once haunted a neighbor of hers in Sudan. The abeth came when the neighbor had stolen, and will now continue to haunt them until they “repay their debt.” Bol vehemently denies that they owe anyone anything, and the viewer doesn’t know the debt to which Rial refers until later in the film. As the spirit and other evil entities get more aggressive, the deadly tension continues to build until the fateful climax. This is more than your typical spooky story though. While the jump scares do get a little cliche after awhile, there’s a reason this abeth has chosen this couple, and the revelation, when it comes, hits you right in the face. A very nicely done thriller, with some frightening scenes that will stick with you. ★★★½

I’ve seen quite a few of acclaimed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s films, from his earliest pictures to some of his biggest hits (and more). I just can’t get enough. Five more on the docket today, starting with 1948’s Drunken Angel. This one is considered his first major work, perhaps partly because it was the first to star Toshiro Mifune, one of Japan’s greatest actors of all time, in his breakout role (he would go on to make 15 more films with Kurosawa as well). Drunken Angel was released and takes place in the years after WWII, and its setting is in a poor area of a city next to a polluted stream. Mifune plays Matsunaga, a young and good looking thug who works for the local yakuza boss. Matsunaga is locally powerful and is used to getting his way, but his celebrity status has taken a toll on his body, from both drinking and womanizing. He’s also suffering from tuberculosis, and is advised by the local doctor to take it easy if he doesn’t want to die young. The doctor is the other main character in the film. Sanada (Kurosawa legend Takashi Shimura, another one of Japan’s greats) runs a small clinic catering to the poor, and while he does greatly care for those who may not be able to get treatment elsewhere, you realize he’s also there because he has a drinking problem of his own. Sanada senses a kindness under Matsunaga’s rough exterior, and wants to help him, but Matsunaga can’t seem to get out of his own way. Also under Sanada’s watchful eye is his assistant, who is the former girlfriend of Matsunaga’s former boss, before he went to jail. Now getting out of the clink, Okada seeks his past love, and Matsunaga must decide on his definition of honor. Really good film, showing a young Mifune coming into his own, and Kurosawa really honing his craft. Interesting to read how Kurosawa snuck some stuff past the USA censors while Japan was still under occupation too. ★★★½

Stray Dog was released the next year, in 1949, and brings back the same 2 stars. This time, Mifune plays Murakami, a young cop who gets, of all things, his gun stolen during a ride on a crowded public bus. While awaiting the inevitable punishment, he goes on a quest to try to hunt down who took it. He gets a good lead, but being a bit inexperienced on the ways of the streets, he teams up with an older detective, Sato (Shimura), who knows all the street dwellers and their routines. When the gun is used in a robbery, confirmed so by forensics matching the bullet to a victim shot in the arm, Murakami is wracked with guilt. He becomes even more driven when it is used again, and this time, there’s a fatality. Knowing there are still 5 bullets in the gun, it’s a race against time to find the culprit before his stolen money runs out, and he robs and kills again. Like Drunken Angel, this film examines the seedy underworld of Japan in the post-war environment. It also asks the age old question that is so often a source of controversy in my own country: do guns kill people or do people kill people? When Murakami is devastated at the murder scene, he cries out that his gun did this. Sato tries to sooth him, telling him that the gun didn’t kill, the bad guy did. The final 20 minutes or so, when the cops are right on the villain’s heels, is some high tension theater, and the interplay between 2 of Japan’s finest actors of all time is must-see. Kurosawa has stated that he was inspired by Dassin’s The Naked City, another classic crime procedural film that I really enjoyed. ★★★★

Rashomon has become one of Kurosawa’s most famous films, and it is one of his most thought-provoking. It begins with a man seeking refuge from a downpour in a broken down temple. He finds there a woodcutter and priest, who look shaken from a recent experience. They admit they’ve just been witnesses to a tragedy that neither can forget, and they begin to weave their tale. It tells what should be a straight-forward, tragic story about a woman raped and her husband murdered, as recounted by witnesses and the guilty killer, but as we learn, nothing is as straight-forward as it should be. Each person tells a different version of what happened. There’s the woodcutter, who initially found the body of the samurai husband, the bandit who committed the rape and murder, the widow/victim, and even the slaughtered man, with his side of the story told through a medium. Each version varies greatly from each other, and the viewer is shown the depths a person will go to for self preservation, or even just to save face in their own eyes. The wife wants to stress how she was a victim, the bandit wants to portray himself as a brave warrior caught up in emotion, etc. Even the priest’s faith is shaken, as he sees the darkness of humanity. All the parts of a great film are here: gripping story, amazing acting, a swelling and emotional soundtrack, and the lighting and cinematography are top notch. At its conclusion, I wanted to watch it again to see it all play out from the beginning! ★★★★½

Throne of Blood is Kurosawa’s version of the classic Shakespeare play Macbeth, told inside a feudal Japan setting. Mifune plays the Macbeth role, Washizu. Washizu and his friend Miki have just squashed a rebellion and are returning to Lord Tsuzuki when they get the famous prophecy, this time from a spirit of the wood instead of 3 witches. Washizu’s eyes light up at the chances that he will become lord in Tsuzuki’s place, but it takes his wife Asaji’s (Lady Macbeth) nudging to get him to kill Tsuzuki, after she drugs the guards. Once in power, Washizu begins to become more and more paranoid of others trying to usurp him, going so far as to kill Miki, which sets off a turn of events leading to open rebellion. This film was lauded for its style and feel, and while there are some fantastic visuals (when Washizu kills the assassin who took down Miki for him is particularly startling), I was honestly a bit bored through much of the picture. I’m not a purist, so the liberties taken with the Macbeth story don’t bother me at all, but it’s been done better (I’m looking at you Polanski). And the character development is really poor, which is odd for a Kurosawa film. I don’t feel like I got to know anyone involved, even Washizu. A rare let down. ★½

Red Beard returns to form. “Red Beard” is Dr Niide (Mifune again), head doctor of a clinic which caters to the poor. Yasumoto is a young doctor who’s just graduated from med school. He’s been sent to the clinic for what he thinks is a quick session to share ideas, but once there, he finds that he’s been assigned to work at the clinic. Yasumoto wanted a stepping stone to become the shogun’s personal physician, and he sees the clinic as a dead end, so he’s incensed. At first, Yasumoto refuses to change into the doctor’s clothes or help with patients. Niide gradually brings him around, by showing him some of the tragedies the poor face, and how the clinic is the only place they can go for help. After hearing a couple patients’ touching stories, Yasumoto is assigned to help a particularly tough case. Otoyo is a 12-year-old girl who has never had a moment of joy in her life. She’s been beaten and derided, and is about to start her new life in a brothel when Niide rescues her. He brings her to the clinic and giver her over to Yasumoto. The two come to life slowly by coming to trust each other. This is a 3 hour film, but it doesn’t feel like it. It’s a touching, heartwarming (and heartbreaking) picture, a lovely film about the human connection from person to person. If the ending is a little too rosy, I can look past that for the warm fuzzies I got watching it. This was the last collaboration of Mifune with Kurosawa, as egos got in the way and the two had a falling out afterwards. ★★★★

A couple years ago I watched Diabolique, an acclaimed film from French director Henri-Georges Clouzot. I loved it, and have been wanting to go back and watch more of his stuff. Finally getting that done!

Le Corbeau (“The Raven”) was released in 1943 during the German occupation. It is about a little town being plagued by an anonymous poison pen letter writer, someone with a grudge against a doctor in town. The letters, signed “le corbeau,” begin by accusing the doctor Germain with performing illegal abortions and with having an affair with Laura, wife to an elderly psychiatrist at the same hospital where Germain works. The viewer knows the accusations seem true, and as letters start going out to more residents, pointing out sins and misdeeds for all the public to discover, they all share the same demand: cast Germain out of town, and the letters will stop. Everyone has a guilty secret, including a new love affair with Germain and the town slut, Denise. At first the prime suspect is Laura’s sister, a nurse named Marie Corbin, and the town vilifies her, to the point that she is arrested, but the letters continue, so the townsfolk realize the real Raven is still out there. It’s a mystery with a definite noir-like feel, complete with the femme fatale character of Denise. Really good, gripping story, with a surprising and shocking ending. With its not-so-subtle attack on the French townsfolk as well as informants and the “looking the other way” by the church in the film, the picture was not so popular with its own French people at the time. It was smeared by the Vichy government, the French Resistance, and the Catholic Church, and later banned after the liberation of France. The film was then suppressed and rarely seen until the 1960’s. ★★★★

Doing films for German-owned Continental Films during the occupation got Clouzot blacklisted until 1947. His first film after coming back was Quai des Orfèvres (“The Goldsmiths’ Quay,” sort of like Paris’s Scotland Yard). It’s a crime movie but not really a mystery, more like a police procedure kind of film. Maurice is a pianist and accompanist to his wife Marguerite, aka Jenny Lamour. Jenny is a sexpot with a nicely trained voice, and while she and Maurice love each other deeply, she knows how to use her looks to get attention, and has dreams of being a star. Jenny has grabbed the eye of the wealthy Brignon, a lecher with cash to burn, and she hopes to use him to further her career. Maurice becomes aware of Brignon, and goes to confront him at a club, roughing him up a bit and loudly declaring that if he went near his wife again, he’d kill him. When Jenny meets Brignon at his home one night, things go wrong, and Brignon ends up dead. Unfortunately for Maurice, he’d decided to act on his threat that night, and went to Brignon’s house, only to find him dead already. Maurice had tried to set up an alibi by going to his place of work, a theater, that evening, but plenty of holes in his story are there for detective Antoine to poke through. The viewer knows that Maurice didn’t kill Brignon, but Antoine doesn’t, and spends the film gathering witnesses to take Maurice down. Most of the film is really great, with some dark noir moments (this is definitely a film noir through and through), and nothing controversial to get Clouzot in trouble again. Jenny drips sex in every word and movement, but you don’t fault her for trying to get ahead in life while still staying (technically) faithful to her husband. In fact, there isn’t a “bad” guy in the film. We like Jenny, we like Maurice, we even like the detective trying to take them down. The end isn’t quite as thrilling as the rest, seemed like a bit of cop out after all the great tension of the film, but still a good ride. ★★★½

Manon is so ridiculously trite and shallow, I almost don’t believe it is from the same director as the above films. The film begins with a young French couple found hiding on a transport ship. The stowaways beg to be let go free, but the captain realizes the man, Robert, is wanted for murder, so he radios ahead that he’ll be dropped off at the next port. To pass the time, Robert and his girl, Manon, share their story. They met when Robert was fighting with the French Resistance during WWII, and Manon was being attacked by her fellow French citizens. She was charged with cavorting with Germans and the town wanted to shave her head and cast her out. Robert fell for her immediately and believed her innocent, and saved her. She didn’t turn out to be the angel that he thought though, and regularly prostituted herself for money while Robert tried to work hard to earn money for them after the war. When confronted, she always begged him back, saying she couldn’t help herself, she just couldn’t live poor and needed to have the nicer things in life. Robert kept swearing her off, but somehow they always ended up together again. Some of the dialogue in this film is truly awful; the whole love-at-first-sight scene in war-torn France when they meet is absurdly cringeworthy. And the feeling of the film for the last 20 minutes changes completely from what came before. There’s some really nice camera work, and the production values are top notch, which makes me have to believe that someone just threw a blank check at Clouzot to get him to direct this mess. ★½

The Wages of Fear, from 1953, is stunning. It’s labeled a thriller, but that’s like calling Star Wars a space movie. It takes place in a tiny South American town, where people of all nationalities have found themselves unable to leave. The town is isolated and the only way in or out is by plane, but the cost of the ride is exorbitant, and the only work around is odd jobs here and there, just enough to eat off of. The sole major employer is the American owned Southern Oil Company, but outside of their own Americans brought in, they only hire locals for the dangerous jobs that no one else wants. Frenchman Mario, German Bimba, and Italian Luigi have been in the area for awhile when another Frenchman, Jo, finds himself there. Jo likes to live large, but he doesn’t have any more money than anyone else, and his uppity nature rubs Luigi the wrong way from the get-go. The two come to blows one evening, with Jo coming out on top, and calling Luigi a coward. This leads into the heart of the film. A big paying job opens up when one of the oil fields catches fire. The oil company wants to hire 4 people, 2 pairs, to drive big trucks of nitroglycerine to the field, to be used in explosions to seal the oil well and put out the fire. An extremely dangerous trip, the company is offering $2000 per person, with the full expectation that at least one of the trucks will get itself blown up before getting to the finish. Jo and Mario team up for one truck, Bimba and Luigi for the other. On the ride, we see who really has the guts among those four. This is probably the most taut film I’ve ever seen. I can’t tell you how many times I caught myself holding my breath, or gasping (loudly) aloud, or fidgeting nervously, as the trucks careen through rugged terrain and impossible obstacles. Edge-of-your-seat thrills for a solid hour plus. I was exhausted (in a good way) by the end, and am happy I escaped without a heart attack. ★★★★★

La vérité (“The Truth”) was, I think, way ahead of its time for the subject matter. It is a drama about a woman, Dominique (60s sex symbol Brigitte Bardot), on trial for murdering her former lover Gilbert (Sami Frey). The film takes place in the courtroom, but is mostly told in flashbacks, leading up to the killing. Setting the tone, we see that Dominique was always a wild child, clashing with her parents and her goody-two-shoes sister Annie, to the point that Dominique is kicked out of the house and moves in with Annie for a time, who is pursuing a college degree in music. There, Annie meets a conductor-in-training, Gilbert. Gilbert visits Annie at her apartment and meets Dominique, and like all men, is immediately lustful, which Dominique encourages. However, whereas usually she just sleeps with the guy, she teases Gilbert, initially out of spite with her sister, who shortly thereafter kicks Dominique out. When Dominique finally gives in and sleeps with Gilbert, she realizes that she does really care for him, but she can’t help her own nature. While dating him, she continues to flirt and see other guys. This drives Gilbert insane with jealousy, until he can take no more and finally quits her and reconnects with Annie. Dominique now realizes what she has lost, which leads to the fateful crime. At trial, Dominique doesn’t deny the murder, but tries to argue that it was a crime of passion, and that she is sorry for the incident, and even tried to commit suicide afterwards. The prosecution of course uses her history against her to paint her in a bad light. These days we have words like slut-shaming, and even to this day we tend to look poorly on girls who flirt around, while dismissing men who do the same. This film points out that glaring disparity. As a courtroom drama, it is a bit lacking, though it does have recognizable faces from other Clouzot masterpieces (Charles Vanel and Paul Meurisse, to name a couple). As a character study of Dominique, it is fantastic. Being a self professed nerd myself, I related more to Annie and personally thought Dominique deserved some of what she got, but the movie does an amazing job of showing you the other side of the coin. ★★★★

My only previous experience with French director Louis Malle was one of his later English films, Black Moon, which is a very out-there film that I really enjoyed. Today I’m going back to his earlier French pictures, starting with his debut, Elevator to the Gallows, a crime movie from 1958. What a wonderful start to a career! This film is great, about a woman, Florence, who is having an affair with an employee of her husband’s company. Florence and Julien’s plan is to kill her husband but stage it to look like a suicide. The murder comes off without a hitch, and Julien exits the building to his car. Unfortunately when he looks up at the high rise before pulling away, he sees he left his grappling rope on the side of the building, which he had used to climb a floor to the husband’s office. He runs inside to take care of it, but while in there, the building security closes it up for the weekend, thinking it is empty, and shuts off the power to the building. Julien is stuck in the elevator. To make matters worse, he had left his car running outside. The car is recognized by a local hoodlum and his girl, who knows Julien, and they take off in it. They drive off to a motel where they give Julien’s name, and end up killing a German tourist during the night. So now Julien is wanted for a different murder, and he is completely unaware. Meanwhile, throughout the long night, Florence wanders the streets of Paris, thinking Julien has dashed off without her. There’s a great ensemble cast of well-known names from this era, including Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, and Lino Ventura, and the film was scored and performed by the great jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. The picture has suspense, mystery, and even some laughs to lighten the tension. Great all-around flick. ★★★★

Zazie dans le metro (“Zazie in the Metro”) is a zany comedy about when Zazie, the most precocious 10 year old on the planet, goes to stay with her uncle Gabriel in Paris for a couple days while her mom visits her boyfriend. The only thing Zazie wants to do is go on the subway, but it is currently closed while the workers are on strike, so she entertains herself in other ways over the course of 2 days. It is a wild, absurd film where nothing makes sense. Buffoonish characters pull off visual jokes aplenty throughout the 90 minute picture. I laughed quite a bit in the early going, but the relentlessness of Zazie’s escapades wore on me after awhile. The film plays out in a frenetic pace that doesn’t let up until the credits roll in the end. Released in 1960 and certainly French New Wave-esque, Malle pokes fun at himself in an early exchange between Zazie and her uncle, when Gabriel points at the taxi meter rolling and says, “Here that? It’s new wave!” Zazie quips back, “You can take your new wave and —.” Funny for sure, but don’t watch it expecting anything resembling a plot, just a bombardment of visual and verbal gags. ★★

Murmur of the Heart is called a coming-of-age film, and it is that I guess, albeit tied up with a lead character with serious mommy issues. Laurent is a 14 year old boy with two older brothers, both bad influences, and a mother who dotes on him far too much. Laurent is a good student, and at 14, he’s increasingly aware of the opposite sex, but has no idea how to go about his feelings. His interactions with girls are awkward at best, borderline sexual assault at worst, and it doesn’t help that his first sexual experience is with a prostitute, set up by his brothers. Meanwhile, he gets little affection from his father, a successful gynecologist from “old money,” and too much affection from his mother Clara. Clara had her first child when she was just 16, and is quite a bit younger than her husband, and still looks great in her mid-30’s. Originally from Italy, she’s full of sexual energy, and is in fact having an affair on her husband, which Laurent is aware of. All of Laurent’s friends are attracted to her, and unfortunately, it seems Laurent is too. The physical affection shown between these 2 even from early in the film was cringy to watch for me. After Laurent gets scarlet fever on a camping trip, and he and his mom go to a sanatorium for a little while for some rest and relaxation, their relationship takes a turn beyond normalcy. I’m not arguing it is an extremely well acted, well directed, well shot film, all aspects are top-notch, but the material was rough for me to watch. Not sure why the professional critics are OK with it. ★★½

Lacombe, Lucien was another controversial film in Malle’s home country, as it tells a story of a young man who became a collaborator with the Germans during the war. Lucien is from a rural community. He’s tired of the daily grind, and approaches the schoolteacher, the local contact for the French Resistance, about joining. He is refused due to his young age. Shortly thereafter, while riding his bike near a large estate, he finds himself ushered in. Turns out it is headquarters for the French arm of the Gestapo. During a drunken evening, he lets slip that the local teacher is in the Resistance, and the next day, the teacher is brought in and tortured. For his help, Lucien is initiated into the group. While once wanting to fight the Germans, Lucien finds he loves the power that comes from his new position with them. He suddenly has fine clothes, and people rush to give him things when he mentions he’s with the German Police. He uses these new powers to get close to a girl he likes, France (the name is not a coincidence, I’m sure). However, France is a jewish girl, daughter to a tailor, who’s been allowed to stay so far because of his connections, but is seeking a path to Spain for safety. Lucien bullies the family to keep France close to him, and ultimately this connection has dire consequences for them all. As the German army is driven back from France, Lucien gets plenty of warnings that collaborators will end up shot, but he stays his course. It’s a beautifully shot picture, the grit and feel of a 1940’s France in turmoil pervades throughout, but Lucien is such a terrible bully, that I couldn’t force myself to like him. Whether he redeems himself in the end, or if he continues his selfish ways, is up to viewer opinion. Call me old fashioned, but I like a hero I can get behind. ★★½

When Louis Malle was a boy attending a Catholic boarding school in France, he was witness to a raid in which German soldiers rounded up 3 jewish children, one of them a close friend of his, and taking them off to concentration camps. The boys had been hidden in the school by the headmaster, and he too was arrested. This episode affected Malle deeply, and he filmed the story for his 1987 movie, Au revoir les enfants (“Goodbye Children”). This autobiographical film is the best one yet. Starting in the fall of 1943, Julien is returning to school for a new school year. From a wealthy family, he and his classmates have been pretty secluded from the war going on in their country, other than the routine air raids, during which they take shelter in the basement. This year though brings a new classmate, Jean Bonnet. Jean is picked on as the new kid, but slowly over the course of the film, he and Julien become friends. One of the things that brings them close is when Julien learns of Jean’s secret: his real name is Jean Kippelstein, and he is a Jew. This secret strengthens the bond between the two boys, even as Germans continually become more suspicious of the goings on at the school. Readers of my blog know I am generally not a fan of child actors, but the 2 leads in this picture, aged 11-13 during filming, are equally spectacular. Heartwarming, funny, and yes, of course full of pain and terror too, this film will move you. And kids these days (myself included once upon a time!) think they have it hard. ★★★★½

The Keeper is just another ho-hum biographical drama. It’s the story of Bert Trautmann, a German soldier captured by the Brits in World War II, who would go on to be a famous goalkeeper. At the end of World War II, Bert is in a POW camp in England, and he’s playing soccer in the yard one day when he is spotted by the coach of a local English team. The coach works a deal with the commander of the camp to allow Bert to work at his store and goal tend for the team, and Bert continues to stay on when the war ends and his compatriots are heading back to Germany. Over the course of the year, he does well enough to earn attention by the pro scouts, and falls in love with an English girl (the coach’s daughter). Neither move is accepted by the general population, who are still getting over the hurts caused by the Germans in the war. Bert himself is still trying to deal with his past transgressions. The film is OK, but nothing remarkable, and while I enjoyed it for the most part, it doesn’t do anything to set itself apart from the multitude of films like it. ★★

The Trial of the Chicago 7 is the latest from writer (and now director) Aaron Sorkin. I have to say, I’m a huge fan. This film is by no means perfect (despite my rating); it plays loose and fast, something that Sorkin can be guilty of at times. But damn, he knows how to build excitement and he lands emotional punches in all the right spots. It is based on the true story of the trial of the “instigators” of the riots at the 1968 Democratic national convention in Chicago. In a clear case of political motivation, 8 leaders of various anti-Vietnam groups are tried together with an obscure federal law about crossing state lines with joint plans to incite the riots. This, despite the people only passingly (or not at all) knowing each other, and no evidence of prior communication. One of the men, Bobby Seal (chairman of the Black Panthers) wasn’t even there during the riots. Despite being light on evidence against them, the men face an uphill battle, with a judge who clearly is against their political ideals, thinking they are anti-USA government, and an Attorney General, newly appointed by new president Richard Nixon, who wants to set a precedent for the new administration. If, like me, you like Sorkin’s previous works, including the fast dialogue of The Social Network or the trial setting of A Few Good Men, you’ll probably love this one too. And, obviously, there’s a lot going on there in 1968 that seems to be repeating now in 2020. And did I mention the all-star cast? Eddie Redmayne, John Carroll Lynch, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, and Frank Langella, just to name a few. And Sacha Baron Cohen! Do yourself a favor, skip his Borat sequel, and see this instead, the dude can really act! ★★★★★

I Used to Go Here is a cute little film, and depending on your tastes, that’s either a good thing or a bad. For myself, I really liked it. In the first 10 minutes, we learn that Kate’s life has taken an unexpected turn, away from being on the cusp of having everything she thought she wanted in life. The film starts with her on the phone with her publisher, having just published her first novel. Sales are not good, and they are cancelling her book tour. She opens up a package waiting for her at home and finds her wedding invitations to a now-cancelled wedding with her ex fiancé. Things are looking bleak, but out of nowhere she gets a call from her former college English teacher, who had set her on the path to writing. David invites her back to her alma mater (the fictional “Illinois University” in Carbondale, IL, which is weird because, living in St Louis, I know there really is a Southern Illinois University in Carbondale) to give a reading from her new book to his English majors. She readily accepts, and thus starts a fun, if sometimes depressing, trip down memory lane for Kate. She hangs with the college boys who now live in her old building, finds that her former idol/teacher David isn’t what he’s cracked up to be, and tries to get her life back on track in some way. From the opening of the film, I thought it might be a romantic comedy, but it is more of a “coming of age for your 30’s” kind of movie. Kate seemed to be on the right track for what society expects of you, but didn’t quite get there and now is starting from scratch again. At the same time, she’s a local celebrity to the English majors at school, because here’s an alum who is published and working in the real world. Balancing those two very different viewpoints is part of what gives some complexity to this picture. It’s not a laugh-out-loud kind of film, but there are lots of chuckles (like when Kate says to a boy that she was in this room 15 years ago, and he quips back that he was in kindergarten 15 years ago), and Gillian Jacobs (of Community fame) is absolutely charming in the lead role. So many films like this focus on younger 20-somethings, but its good to see some attention given to us older folks, many of whom may still be trying to find their way. ★★★½

Save Yourselves! is the worst kind of a movie: a comedy that’s not funny. It’s about a couple from New York who are having relationship problems, and decide to go to a cabin in the woods for a week to reconnect. They turn their phones off and promise themselves and each other that they will “disconnect” from their busy online lives and devote the week to each other. Of course, the week they happen to go, the Earth is invaded by an alien race which starts killing a bunch of people. Our couple is blissfully unaware for a few days, which is about as boring a 45 minutes as you’ll find on screen, and the final half isn’t much better. The “aliens” look like oversized tribbles of classic Star Trek TV, but low budget aside, the movie’s just not funny. Not even “chuckle” kind of funny. As in, I didn’t laugh or crack a smile once. A half a star because, hey, they made a movie? ½

On the Rocks is, unfortunately, a rather mundane, average comedy. Rashida Jones plays Laura, a married woman with 2 kids, who begins to suspect her husband Dean (Marlon Wayans) is cheating on her. He’s running a company which is really starting to take off, so he’s always away at meetings and going on mysterious trips. All of her evidence is circumstantial (he’s changed the password on his phone, he “accidentally” ended up with a female coworker’s stuff in his luggage) but she can’t stop that nagging feeling. Her suspicions are egged on by her dad Felix (Bill Murray). Felix knows a thing or two about extramarital affairs, having been the cause of his breakup with Laura’s mom, and he’s never given up the high flying lifestyle. They begin their stakeout of Dean’s whereabouts, searching for hard concrete proof. The actors give it their best, but the writing is dull and the jokes only land at times thanks to the ability of the talented cast. The ending is so cliche it could have come straight out of film 50 years ago. On the Rocks is an apt description of director Sofia Coppola’s career since Lost in Translation over 15 years ago. ★★

Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese director who made films based on his socialist and pacifist views, as well as the human cruelty and suffering he personally saw and experienced in World War II. His most famous piece is a trilogy called The Human Condition, but since it totals nearly 10 hours, I thought I’d save that for a rainy weekend, and instead watch 5 of his other films.

The Thick-Walled Room was one of his earliest pictures, completed in 1953, but not released until 1956 due to its controversial material. It takes place in a prisoner of war camp in Japan around 1950. The detainees are Class B and C war criminals, meaning, for the most part, soldiers who were “just following orders.” In the cell of 6 men, each is dealing with the guilt of things they did during the war, while also holding animosity towards their superiors, many of whom were able to buy or negotiate their freedom from the Americans, despite being the ones calling the shots during the war. It’s an eclectic group of young, middle aged, and even foreign born soldiers, including a Korean who laments the current state of his country, now in a new war with itself. The main character is a man named Yamashita, who was jailed for stealing food, but is most beset by guilt for killing an innocent Philippine civilian on orders. The captain was later the star witness against Yamashita on the food-stealing charge, proof of the corruption going on. All of the prisoners are waiting for a final treaty between Japan and the USA, which will finally get them out of jail, but when the treaty comes and they are still not freed, they begin to organize and petition the powers above to free them. It is a heartfelt picture of the impacts of war to all aspects of society, with many flashbacks showing how everyone is affected. As mentioned, the film was shelved for a few years, in fears that the subject matter would piss off Americans still stationed in Japan, and while it doesn’t paint the USA in a great light, the focus is more on the treatment of Japan’s citizens by itself. ★★★

I Will Buy You centers around a star college baseball player, Kurita, who is being heavily recruited by professional teams. The main characters are Kishimoto, a scout trying to sign him to the Toyo Flowers, and Kurita’s college coach, Kyuki. Kyuki paid for Kurita’s college tuition, coached him up to be the player that he is, so Kurita is indebted to him, and is letting all the scouts deal with Kyuki. Kyuki is pretending to be humble about it, but you can tell pretty early on he is taking advantage of the situation, being peppered with gifts and cash. He’s suffering from a stomach ailment, and Kishimoto is helping pay for treatments, and over time, it seems his team has the leg up on the competition as far as signing Kurita goes. However, when Kishimoto learns that Kyuki may be faking his illness, Kishimoto doesn’t know who to trust anymore. As Kurita’s college career comes to a close, and all the teams’ scouts and owners keep upping their offers, it is readily apparent that no one really cares what Kurita himself wants. Kyuki entertains all of the offers, and Kurita’s siblings and family get in on the act as well, with everyone clamoring for a slice of the pie. Coming from the socialist director Kobayashi, it is a pretty harsh criticism of free market capitalism at its worst. It’s a decent enough film, felt a bit long. There was definitely a point near the end, when the teams kept trying to outdo each other with lavish offers to various family members under their swing, when I just wanted to skip ahead to see what happened. I’m glad I let it happen naturally, because the end does flip the script on the viewer. ★★½

Kobayashi’s next film was Black River, in 1957. This is his seediest film so far, about a college student named Nishida who rents a poor room in a rundown building near a USA army base. With the rampant prostitution and gambling going on near the base, all the lowliest sorts are attracted to the area, but Nishida seems to be a good guy and studies hard. A young waitress named Shizuko catches his eye, but she also has the attentions of a piece of scum named “Killer Joe.” Joe runs a gang of hooligans in the area, and he sets them up to attack Shizuko one night, pretending to rush in and be the savior. When Joe tries to then get his “rewards,” Shizuko fights back until she falls unconscious, at which point Joe rapes her. The next day, Shizuko demands marriage to save her honor, but Joe refuses, keeping her around as his pet. In the background of all this, the landlady who owns the dilapidated apartment building Nishida rents from wants to sell it to another sleaze, Joe’s boss. This guy wants to tear it down and build a new brothel to treat the American soldiers. One of Nishida’s neighbors in the building is a communist, and he tries to get the other tenants to band together to fight the tyranny going on by the wealthy landlady, etc. I liked the film for the most part, and there’s some great villainy that plays out, but some stuff definitely could have been done better. Despite being a central character, we never really get to know Nishida or what makes him tick. Shizuko plays a great damsel in distress and her motives are clear from the beginning, but you wander why she doesn’t try to help herself out of her situation before it’s too late. When the (multiple) climaxes come in the end, nothing gives the viewer a satisfying ending. Some good moments, but I wanted more. ★★½

The Inheritance is yet another poke at unbridled greed. Kawara is the wealthy president of a company who’s just found out he is dying of stomach cancer. He doesn’t have any legitimate children to leave his wealth to, but he does have a penchant for the ladies and, as such, has 3 illegitimate children ranging in ages from 7 to 20. They are to 3 different women, and don’t know anything about Kawara or his wealth. On his death bead, Kawara tasks his employees with finding those three children, and bringing them to him to see if they are worthy of inheriting a chunk of his dough. The scheming starts immediately. Kawara’s much younger wife, formerly his secretary, wants to make sure she ends up with the lion’s share, so she goes in cahoots with Kawara’s right-hand man to steer the youngest child to her, so that she’ll be guardian of the kid and her wealth once the old man is gone. Other similar plots are set out for the other 2 older children. Meanwhile, the only person showing true kindness to Kawara is his current secretary (the wife’s replacement), but as the film goes along, she becomes a replacement in more ways than one, and is she truly looking out for Kawara or herself? It’s a very intriguing film, and as gripping as a dialogue-driven film can be. The final 20 minutes or so, when everyone’s plots are revealed, are fantastic. It’s a solid drama which should be seen more than it has. ★★★★

Harakiri is perfection, and out of these 5 films, the one I would most urge anyone to see. This is a dynamic and enrapturing film, full of suspense and intrigue. Taking place in the early 17th century, Tsugumo Hanshiro arrives at a large compound seeking the head counselor for the samurai under the local lord. Hanshiro states that for many years, he has been a ronin (masterless samurai), and he wishes to commit harakiri (often called seppuku), or ritual suicide, in their courtyard, in order to retain his honor. The counselor, Kageyu, tells Hanshiro a tale of a similar ronin who came not long ago for the same purpose. Motome had previously arrived with the exact same story as Hanshiro. At that time, Kageyu suspected that Motome was not serious about going through with the act, and was doing it because other ronin had been showing up at houses professing the same intent, and were just looking for a handout to make them go away. Kageyu forced Motome to go through with the act, and what’s worse, he made him do it with bamboo swords, since Motome had long since sold or lost his steel ones. Obviously a very painful way to die, trying to slice open your stomach with a bamboo knife. In the present day, Kageyu asks Hanshiro if he too is just seeking money, and Hanshiro relates his story. And oh boy, is it a good one. He knew Motome, and knew of how he died, and he’s there for more than just his harakiri. This is a tremendous film. The pace that Koboyashi set in previous films may not have always worked there, but in this setting, it adds tension to Hanshiro’s tale. By the end, I found myself on the edge of my seat, breathlessly awaiting the conclusion. Doesn’t get any better! ★★★★★

Is The Painted Bird a brilliant, powerful film? Yes. Is it entertaining? I have to say no. It is the story of a young, unnamed boy, who can’t be more than 11 or 12 tops, as he endures a year of torturous experiences at the tail end of World War II. He’s been sent to live with his aunt in a rural area in some unknown section of eastern Europe. When she dies unexpectedly one night, and in his fright the boy sets the house on fire and it burns to the ground, he is left homeless in an uncaring and unforgiving world torn apart. For nearly three hours, we see him bounce around from village to village, person to person. He is degraded, beaten, mentally and sexually abused, until he has no emotion left for this world. For the year or so covered in the film, he never has a moment of joy, only small moments of respite from the ongoing abuse that each “caregiver” gives him, before he can run away to a new person to torture him. To say it is hard to watch is an understatement, and the only impression I came away with is the filmmaker must have very little hope for humanity. It is certainly a dynamic and powerful picture, but not one for those with a weak stomach, and most definitely not one you’d want to see more than once. ★

I hated Still Life for much the same reasons that I hated another of this director’s movies, Ash is Purest White: it’s too slow, nothing really happens, etc. Set in modern China, this movie is about 2 people searching for their significant others in a disappearing town in China. A new dam has been built, and the town is slowly being deconstructed to allow the river to flow through, which will then generate the hydroelectricity needed to power China’s rapid modernization. Han Sanming has come to find his wife, who left him 16 years ago, but finds that their old neighborhood is already under water. He finds her brother though, who says she is working south, but asks him to hang around for her to return. Han begins working on the deconstruction project with the brother. The other person is a lady, Shen Hong, also looking for a spouse, who she hasn’t seen in two years. She finds, him, only to find out he’s become a successful business and has a mistress on the side. The film’s final act is the resolution of Han’s search. There’s not much I did like about this picture. Slow to the point of exhaustion, it also looks like it was filmed on Uncle’s Jim’s handheld camcorder in 1999. I don’t know if it was a low budget picture or a if that was the style on purpose, for realism, but it is not enjoyable, and there were so many amateurish panning shots across our characters that it became comic after awhile. ½

I’m breaking a rule of mine and blogging about a film I’ve seen before, but it’s because it’s been ages, and I’d never seen the two sequels. I saw L’Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment) back in the early 2000’s, before I was really into foreign films at all. Only watched it because Audrey Tautou was in it, and like a lot of people around that time, I had loved her in Amélie. So I watched it again, as a refresher, and I think I enjoyed it more as a 40 year old with some perspective than a young 20 something. It follows Xavier, a French grad student who moves to Barcelona to study for a year. He moves into a large flat with roommates from all over the continent: England, Germany, Denmark, Italy, and a local Spaniard. Following the roommates and their visiting siblings and significant others, the film has all of the energy and excitement of a group of people with their whole lives in front of them, enjoying the last time before they have real adult worries and responsibilities. The apartment is a cultural and sexual hotbed, exposing each of them to ideas they had not seen before. It’s just a fun comedy, sort of like an international version of the classic 90s coming of age pictures. I’m not giving anything away, but there’s a scene in the end when the year is up, and Xavier is getting ready to head back to France, where he’s reflecting back on the last year. As he’s walking down the street with a wistful look on his face, you know he’s looking at the conclusion of a moment in life. I think we’ve all been there, when we knew one journey was ending, and we are filled with happiness and already maybe a sense of loss, knowing you can never relive those moments again. ★★★★★

Since this is a sequel, there will be spoilers for the previous film. Russian Dolls picks up five years later, and Xavier’s career as a writer has not taken off. Despite great intentions (as we all do in such moments), he and his flatmates from Spain did not keep in touch, but they are reuniting in Russia to see Wendy’s brother William get married. Xavier admits in narration that not only is his professional life a mess, but so is his personal life, and he flashes back a year to get us caught up. Xavier is still friends with his ex, Martine, but the only one of his old roommates he’s kept up with is the one he was closest to, the lesbian Isabelle, who he lives with for a time when he loses his apartment. Xavier has been ghostwriting and writing scripts for a tv show, which leads him to reunite with Wendy. She’s a more successful writer in London, and when Xavier gets a chance to write a holiday made-for-TV film in English, he tags her to help. At the same time, he is given an assignment to ghostwrite a biography for a famous model in Paris, so he spends his days taking the train back and forth between London and Paris. Xavier and Wendy start to fall for each other, but can Xavier, who’s spent 5 years sleeping around and not committing to anyone, manage to not screw it up? The film is not as whimsical as the first, probably because everyone is a little older, but not all are wiser. While it felt a little long, it manages to be a very human story, and feels real. I’m hoping for a strong conclusion. ★★★½

More incoming spoilers obviously. Whereas the second film jumped 5 years, Chinese Puzzle leaps us forward 10. Xavier and Wendy have had 10 years of a good, loving marriage, with 2 kids, but very suddenly the marriage fell apart. The final nail in the coffin was when Xavier’s best friend Isabelle, now with a life partner and wanting children, asks him to be a sperm donor. Wendy doesn’t like it, and when she’s off working in New York for a couple weeks, she meets someone, and eventually moves there with the kids. Xavier’s life in Paris feels empty, so he decides to follow to New York to be close to his kids, and once there, finds himself once again on Isabelle’s couch. As he and Wendy approach their divorce, Xavier’s lawyer recommends that, if he wants to stay in NY to raise his children, the easiest way is to marry an American for his green card. As luck would have it, shortly thereafter, Xavier saves a taxi cab driver’s life. The driver, a Chinese immigrant, begs to let him return the favor in some way, and before you know it, Xavier is marrying the cabbie’s American-born niece. It’s a complicated story for what has been a complicated life for Xavier, but the film never finds solid footing. There are even recycled plot elements from the previous two pictures, some things are introduced but never explored, and the writing comes off as pretentious and unrealistic, which is a total letdown from the fun atmosphere of where this trilogy started. And worse yet, the end is exactly what Xavier railed against in the second film: it’s cliche. There’s some nice, humorous moments, but the movie just made me want to go back and watch the first again. ★½

Never seen any films from Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki before, so time to rectify that. Going to look at 5 of his earlier films from the 80’s and early 90’s, starting with his “proletariat trilogy.” From my perspective, I think Shadows in Paradise has it backwards, and instead should be something like “Paradise in the Shadows.” It is about a garbage collector named Nikander, who lives alone and has seemingly a singly friend in the whole world, a coworker who dies suddenly one day of a heart attack (days after explaining he wanted to start his own business, so he’d die behind the desk and not at the truck). Nikander sees the need to have a new friend, so he latches on to a random guy, gets him a job to replace his deceased friend, and wham-o, has a new buddy. At the same time, Nikander starts dating a local grocery store worker named Ilona. Their interactions with each other are awkward, bordering on uncomfortable to watch, but their relationship seems to work for them. The film is mostly about these 2, finding moments of happiness in an otherwise dreary, hard world. I have to get a bit used to Kaurismäki’s deadpan style, the actors deliver lines with very little emotion, almost like they are reciting from a book, but I understand that is common to this director’s movies. That’s not to say there is no emotion in this film, but it lets you come to those feelings on your own, rather than having an actor lead you there. Strange first picture, will see how these others go. ★½

Ariel is so much better, and quite funny to boot! It follows a coal miner named Kasurinen, who’s on a string of back luck. The film opens with the mine closing, and all of its workers now out of work. Kasurinen sits in a diner with his father, also a miner, who laments that their way of life is now gone. He gives Kasurinen the keys to his prized Cadillac convertible, and then goes to the bathroom to shoot himself. Kasurinen takes the car out of the garage, and the house falls apart as he pulls out. At the bank, he empties his account to head to the city and start a new life, but is robbed on the way there. He shows up penniless, finds a single day’s work for some cash, and uses it to stay in a homeless shelter that night. The only bright spot is a girl he meets, Irmeli. She’s as lonely as he is, and the two hit it off. But Kasurinen continues to be unable to find solid work, and when he spots the man who initially robbed him, Kasurinen attacks him. Unfortunately the cops spot it, and Kasurinen is arrested and sentenced to a couple years for assault, attempted robbery, etc. He finally gets a buddy in jail, his cell mate Mikkonen, but the two only get in more trouble when they attempt to escape, and fall in with a rough gang afterwards. The humor is so much more apparent in this film, which makes it easier to watch and enjoy. The story is engaging, the acting, while still with a touch of wooden delivery, is more encompassing, and the film is just a whole lot of fun. ★★★

The Match Factory Girl is the first great film I’ve seen from this director. The referenced girl is Iris, who lives a mundane and joyless life. She lives with her deadbeat parents, who are freeloading off her, letting her pay the rent, cook, and clean. Her mom is the kind who pulls a book off Iris’s shelf to re-gift it to her on her birthday, and who berates her for spending her own money. Iris tries to go to a club to meet men, but has no luck until she buys a new dress. The man she goes home with is a real piece of work, but Iris latches on to him as her only hope for something different. He of course wants no part of her, even after she finds she’s pregnant. In the end, Iris has had enough with everyone, and her way of taking control of her life is fantastic. By now I’ve gotten used to Kaurismäki’s style, and maybe it is just growing on me, but the sparseness seems to fit perfectly in Iris’s dreary existence. Her life is so completely dreary, grotesquely comic even, that you can’t help but hope she finds some light somewhere. ★★★★

The Leningrad Cowboys were an idea from Aki Kaurismäki and members of a comedy Finish rock band called the Sleepy Sleepers. After putting together a few short films for the group, Kaurismäki made a full feature film about a fake band, Leningrad Cowboys Go America. Featuring outlandishly long pompadours and long pointy shoes to match, the band of brothers and cousins, struggling to find a following in the barren Soviet Union landscape, head off to New York, because “they’ll buy anything over there.” The one member who froze to death the night before the trip goes along too, with a cutout in his wood coffin for his hair and shoes to fit through. The band doesn’t find immediate success in New York, where they are told they need to play rock and roll music to get any attention, but an agent hires them to play at a wedding in Mexico, if they can make it there. And so begins the silly road trip movie that you knew was coming. It’s pretty darn funny, as the manager of the group fleeces them at every turn until they get wise, and they continue to try to incorporate aspects of American music to make some money. It’s a mostly English language film while the group is traveling the USA, so for those that hate subtitles, you can still enjoy this one. Fans of the early National Lampoon films can really dig the outrageous characters and events throughout this film. And was that a cameo by Jim Jarmusch as a used car salesman? Hilarious. ★★★★½

After the success of the previous film, the fake band became a real one, and the Leningrad Cowboys have sinced released multiple albums and continue to tour here and there to this day (albeit with only 1 original band member). In 1994, five years after the last film, a sequel was made, Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses. The boys have been stuck in Mexico for 5 years, successful at first, but have fallen on hard times since discovering tequila. They get a cryptic note about a job in New York, and head there only to find their long-lost manager Vladimir. After wandering the desert of Mexico, he says he’s found the light and calls himself Moses. He wants the Cowboys to return to mother Russia, so we get another road trip film, this time through Europe. At least, that’s what I assume, because I gave up 45 minutes into this picture. It’s just not funny the second time around. Like too many comedy sequels, it’s trying too hard and the payoff is never there. If you watch it and like it, more power to you, but my hunch is the film was funnier to the people making it than the viewers watching it. To put a bow on this group, I browsed through their final film, Total Balalaika Show, which is footage of a live concert the Leningrad Cowboys did in Helsinki to a raucous crowd of 70,000. Watch the Cowboys Do America, but skip the rest. ½